


moving in

by deminux



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Nonbinary Character, Nux Lives, Trans Character, demigirl nux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-23 22:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4895137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deminux/pseuds/deminux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several weeks have passed since Furiosa took the Citadel, and the Brilliants are finally settling in and making the space in its towering spires their own. Capable does this by having Nux help her build a pillow nest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	moving in

**Author's Note:**

> The Four Brilliants is the term I'm using to refer to those who used to be the Five Wives.
> 
> Nux is a demigirl and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns -- if you keep that in mind, things should be pretty clear, but if anything needs clarification let me know!
> 
> The Dag is agender & uses xe/xyr pronouns -- if you're unused to these, xe/xyr/xyrs are used in the same way as he/him/his or she/her/hers.

"You know," Toast said one morning, surveying their room with her hands on her hips, "Furiosa’s given us access to a whole spire's worth of rooms."

Cheedo looked over at her from where she was unbraiding her hair. "Yeah?"

"So we should be using them," Toast continued. "I want my own damn room."

The Dag rolled xyr eyes at Toast, getting up from their couch and joining Cheedo, resting xyr chin on her head and hugging her. "I hate to agree with Toast, but I agree with Toast," xe said. "We could spread out. Leave this as a common room, in the center, you know?"

Cheedo nodded. "We could still all sleep in here sometimes, if we had to. Wanted to, I mean."

"All right. Where's Capable?" Toast asked.

"Where do you think she is?" the Dag asked, crossing the room to the pile of blankets on the floor and nudging it with xyr foot. "Caaaaaapable," xe sang, lifting up a pillow to reveal Capable's messy hair.

Cheedo smiled. "She's probably not going to mind moving; I think she could sleep anywhere."

Toast grinned. "Yeah, I don't know anyone else who can sleep like her."

Across the room, the Dag had finally convinced Capable to open her eyes. She looked up sleepily at the Dag, who peered down at her. "We're making decisions," the Dag declared, "and you should get up."

"Too early for decisions," Capable complained, snatching back the pillow that the Dag had taken from her.

"Good thing we made them without you," Toast called.

"It's moving out day," the Dag clarified. "We think we should have our own rooms. This one'll stay a common room."

"Mmm, really?" Capable asked, sitting up. "Do I get to sleep somewhere where you won't insist on waking me up?

The Dag pushed her lightly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. There a room you want?"

She considered it for a moment, stretching her arms above her head as she did. "If no one's claimed that room down the hall to the right? The sunny one?"

"Fine by me," the Dag said, shrugging.

"Same," Toast agreed. Cheedo nodded too.

"It's settled, then," the Dag said, standing up. "We'll leave you to sleep and go get our own rooms sorted out."

Capable mumbled something unintelligible, curling up again in in her pillow nest.

 

When she next woke, it was to Nux's fingers brushing her cheek. "G'morning," she said softly, kissing Capable's forehead.

"Hey!" Capable said, brightening immediately. "Nux. Morning."

Nux smiled as Capable sat up and hugged her. "Toast said I should come get you up because you have ah, something I should help with?"

"Yeah, I'm moving," Capable said, letting Nux pull her to her feet.

"Moving?" Nux asked, confused. “You aren’t -- leaving somewhere?”

"No, no, we decided we're all gonna have our own rooms instead of sharing this one," she replied reassuringly. "It'll be nice; I'm taking the sunroom at the end of the hall."

Nux nodded eagerly. "I'll help you move?"

"Stop saying that sort of thing like it's a question," Capable chided. "I'll tell you as many times as it takes that I want you around helping me," she added, hugging Nux and resting her forehead on their chest.

Surprised, Nux patted the back of her head tentatively. It had only been a few weeks since they had taken the Citadel, and their relationship, like all the others that had been forged in the aftermath of Immortan Joe's death, was still somewhat uncertain.

Capable pulled away to look at Nux with a smile. "Let's get going. I'm gonna build a pillow pile so impressive that the other three’ll wish we were still sharing a room."

She bundled all of the blankets at her feet into her arms and peered at Nux over the pile she held. "Get any loose blankets you can," she demanded, "and follow me."

Nux grabbed the rest of the pillows and blankets in the room and followed her down the hallway. The two of them made an amusing sight, considering the amount of pillows and blankets teetering in each of their arms. Capable caught sight of Cheedo crossing the hallway in front of them, and she shifted all of the blankets so she could balance them while waving at her. Cheedo waved back as she passed by, laughing when Capable's pile toppled to the ground.

"Ah, shit," Capable said. "I'll get this, Nux, you put those in the room."

"All right," Nux said,  passing her and turning into the room she'd chosen. She set her pile down carefully, surveying the room with appraising eyes. It was large and bare; the rock floors were as uneven as they were anywhere else in the Citadel, but surprisingly clean. Down where Nux had grown up, no room ever looked as open and empty as this -- they were all crammed with people and parts and possessions, and no one had bothered to keep anything clean. Even though she’d been spending time with Capable and the other Brilliants, Nux still wasn’t entirely comfortable in the empty and spacious floors that they lived in. They felt foreign and empty to her.

"We need a rug!" Capable declared as she came through the door. "You know where I can get one?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Nux said, spinning around. "Five minutes, I'll find one!" She left without waiting for Capable’s answer.

Capable threw her blankets on top of the ones Nux had set down before crossing her arms and glancing around the room. She’d chosen this one because of the window that dominated the wall across from the hallway. It stretched from just above floor level to the ceiling. It was wide, like a gateway that left the room open to the desert’s whims, and the view was everything she could hope for. Furiosa had decided that the higher they were, the safer they were, so their rooms were some of the highest in the Citadel. Edging close to the window, Capable found a dip in the rock with one of her hands, and used it to hold herself as she leaned slowly out the window.

She sucked in a breath as she looked down at the dizzying plummet from her room to the ground. She leaned out further, enthralled by the fast-paced beat of her own heart and the swooping feeling that all of the air in her lungs was leaving her body. She hung there, tilting her head to the side so her long red braid would tumble over her shoulder and reach towards the ground, and tried to make sense of the blur of sky, desert rock, and cloud, imagining what it would be like to let herself go. Then, there would really be nothing separating her from the desert within which the Citadel had sprouted; the Citadel would have no hold on her at all.

A pair of hands grabbed her around her middle and yanked her backwards so forcefully that they both fell into the pile of blankets that Capable had left on the ground. Nux hugged Capable tightly, her arms trembling as she buried her face into Capable's hair.

"Woah, Nux -- " Capable said, twisting so she could see her girlfriend’s face.

"What were you thinking, Capable, shiny shiny Capable, you don't do that if you wanna live," Nux scolded, their voice shaking. "There aren't ropes there, or, or watchers or nothing, if you fall you're ended!"

"I wanted to know what it felt like -- "

"Capable! You’re, you’re your own person, and I don’t wanna tell you what to do, but. You can do what you want unless, unless it's gonna hurt you. Then, I say no," Nux said firmly. "Please, Capable?"

Capable pushed Nux’s arms off of her and got to her feet. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about scaring you," she said abruptly, turning away from Nux. "Let's -- let's finish with the rug at least for right now?”

Nux nodded uncertainly, watching Capable and trying to get a read on her emotions as they got to their feet and grabbed the rug. They'd abandoned it in the doorway when they saw Capable in the window, and she helped Capable drag it to the center of the room. It was a circular rug that matched the rough shape of the room, with thick lines zigzagging out from the center like an unkempt sun. Capable paused for a moment in the center, curling her toes into the point where the lines met.

"I say we dump all the stuff here and call it good," she said, tapping a foot on the floor. "I'm -- I don't think I can concentrate on this right now."

"S'okay," Nux said after a moment, shoving the pile of blankets onto the rug. "Don't feel bad."

Capable sat down in the pile, looking a little lost. "I do feel bad, though," she admitted, "about scaring you as much as not being able to finish."

Nux sat across from her, pulling the quilt Capable had gotten from the Vuvalini out of the pile and reaching to gently wrap it around Capable's shoulders. "Don't," Nux said, soft but insistent. "Not your fault. S'just how you are and you can't help that."

"Thanks," Capable said quietly, scooting closer to Nux so their knees were touching. "I really am sorry about scaring you. I should have known better."

She took one of Nux's hands, turning it over and holding it in one hand as she traced the lines of their palm with her other. Nux watched her face silently, letting her bring their hand to her lips and kiss it lightly. Nux didn't know what to do in response. Capable looked different from her usual self, and Nux hated being unsure of what she should say.

"Capable?" she tried, looking into the other's eyes as she looked up in response. "What's wrong?"

Capable sighed, lacing her fingers with Nux's. "I don't know."

Nux waited, squeezing Capable's hand. They rested their other hand on her knee.

"I don't know. I feel...disconnected, sometimes, from everything happening here. I know...I know I do good things, with you, and with Furiosa and the others. We do good things and I think we're helping everyone, but..." She trailed off, pulling the quilt more snugly over her shoulders before taking Nux's hand again. "Sometimes it feels kind of...foggy, like I don't clearly see what's happening around me, and I don't know if I really am connected to you guys. I want to be, but I...I just can’t tell, sometimes."

She stopped talking, and Nux felt a frown grow on their face. She reached towards Capable, brushing her cheek with her fingers.  "I can only talk for myself, you know, but I...I feel connected to you, and I want to be, be connected to you, and I think what you do is important. You're really important, Capable, you're so important."

Capable sighed, leaning into Nux's touch. "That's -- that's good to hear."

Encouraged, Nux continued. "You're...everything about you is shiny, you know, and there's not some special thing you have to do to be like that.  You just are, Capable, you’re the shinest person I’ve ever met."

Capable looked up at Nux, and they saw her eyes were damp. They wiped one of Capable's tears away with their thumb, worried. "Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head. "These aren't sad tears. I'm glad that I have you."

She leaned forward to touch Nux's lips, content to let her forehead rest against theirs as they breathed together. They sat there silently, letting the quiet of the room wash over them. Occasional sounds would echo through the Citadel and drift up to them from below, but aside from that, the only noise to stir the silence was their breathing.

"Would you...want to share this room with me?" Capable asked Nux tentatively. "Not just today, right now. All the time?"

"Yes!" Nux blurted out without a second thought. "Yes, Capable, I'd love that!"

Capable grinned, caressing Nux's face in her hands and pressing another kiss to her lips. "Sure? I mean, I want you to be sure, but if you aren't comfortable up here, or if there’s some other problem--"

Nux shook her head insistently. "Shh, no, I want to! I want to!" She laughed, dropping her head to rest on Capable's chest. "I love you, Capable."

Capable kissed the top of Nux's head, hugging her tightly. "I love you too."

 

 


End file.
